Nose attachment container for head cold medicament



Aug. 23, 1955 A. e. HILL 2,715,904

NOSE ATTACHMENT CONTAINER FOR HEAD COLD MEDICAMENT Filed April 8, 1954 a ""'..-"'.-n' I INVE NTOYR United States Patent 0 NOSE ATTACHMENT CONTAINER FOR HEAD COLD MEDICAMENT Albert G. Hill, London, Ontario, Canada Application April 8, 1954, Serial No. 421,823

6 Claims. (Cl. 128198) Heretofore it has been the practice to impregnate a foraminous disc or a porous pad with some strong medication and enclose it in a tube having at least one aperture contoured to fit snugly into one nostril. When one breathes inwardly through the said one nostril while finger or thumb, a powerful medication or emollient is deposited upon the respiratory passages.

This prior art method and means for alleviating respiratory ailments suffers from certain disadvantages. The devices above described are not intended for continuous or lengthy application and are normally used only for a few seconds at a time. Indeed, the medications with which conventional inhalers are equipped are often so potent that to apply them continuously over a lengthy period of, say, hours, would be clearly dangerous. On the other hand there are many respiratory ailments which do not yield at all to intermittently applied remedies. The reasons for this are at present a matter of opinion. Whatever the opinions may be, the fact of experience exists and heretofore none have provided a means of convenient or practical form for the continuous application over a specified relatively long time to the whole respiratory tract of a mild but effective medication, or air filtration.

It is the object of this invention to provide such a facility.

According to my invention, I provide an inhaler tube and support therefor including an adjustable vise-like fitting whereby the inhaler tube can be inserted in a nostril and clamped in position thereat so that a medication contained in the said inhaler tube can be continuously inhaled without inconvenience or discomfort to the user.

In a further aspect, the invention contemplates a pair of inhalers, one for each nostril, and a said adjustable vise fitting common to the said pair and capable of positioning and retaining the said pair of inhalers appropriately seated within both nostrils of the nose, whereby both respiratory passages may be simultaneously treated by extended application of a specified medication or filtration.

In a still further aspect, the said inhaler element is made to be detachable from the vise fitting so that the same fitting may be used to apply different medications in each nostril or a series of successively applied differing medications to either or both nostrils. By the same token, spent inhaler tubes may be replaced when necessary without discarding the fitting.

The invention will now be more fully elucidated by description of a typical example of construction in accordance therewith. The text should be read in conjunction with the attached drawings wherein:

Figure 1 shows, partly in section a human nose with a construction according to one form of my invention attached thereto in operative attitude.

Figure 2 is a section along the lines 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a plan view of a pair of inhalers and an associated vise constructed as an integral assembly.

Figure 4 depicts in perspective, a vise arrangement having also a pair of clamps designed to hold detachable inhaler tubes.

Figure 5 shows the structure of Figure 4 with a pair of detachable inhalers seated in operating attitude in the clamps.

Figure 6 is a detail of one arm of an inhaler and clamp holder.

Figure 7 is a section along the lines 77 of Figure 3.

Referring now to these drawings, 1 and 2 are vise jaws joined by a preferably springy loop 3 at their base and movable toward and away from one another under control of screw 4. The jaws of this vise may be inserted in the web member of the nose as shown in Figure 2 or alternatively, they may be compassed about the outside surface of the forward portion of the nasal prominence. Inhaler holders 5 and 6 having a springy base integral with or common to springy loop 3 support respective closing ofi the other nostril by pressing it Shut with k inhaler tubes 8, 9, and this combination is in turn also adjustable as to the angular attitude of the arms 5, 6 and therefore of the relative spacing of the inhaler tubes 8, 9, by the tension screw 7. Screws 4 and 7 may have washers and each a knurled thumb nut for setting the respective elements so that they fit comfortably upon the wearer.

In a very useful modification the inhaler tubes 8, 9 are modified to adapt them for clamping in respective clamps or cartridge-clips 10, 11 as shown in Figure 4 and again as clips 10, 11 and cartridges 8', 9 in Figure 5.

Figure 6 shows a cartridge or inhaler tube having restraining flanges 12, 13 and resting detachably in clip 10. Said flanges are bead-like elements.

The sectional view of an inhaler, Figure 7, shows how the inhaler tube may be fitted with a pad which acts as a filter or medicant carrier as desired.

The invention is readily fitted to nasal structures of widely differing shapes and sizes, and the embodiments, particularly those having detachable tubes, can be used for fitering the air breathed by sufferers from asthma and/ or hay fever either during sleeping hours or when in the presence of pollen-laden air. Tubes of diifering size may be made and supplied to give close fits in nasal apertures when required.

The tubes may contain only air filters, or may contain appropriate medications as required.

It is not intended that the shapes of the vise jaws, tubes, spring loops, adjusting nuts and the like should be limited to the exact forms shown in the drawings as these can be extensively modified without departing from the broad scope of my invention and all such modifications are to be regarded as lying within the ambit of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An attachable inhaler device comprising a vise having a pair of nose-gripping jaws, a springy loop joining said jaws together at an end and urging said jaws toward an open attitude, a screw fastened to one of said jaws at a point removed from said springy loop and projecting through an opening in the other jaw, a nut on said screw for engaging said other jaw for urging said jaws toward a closed attitude, an inhaler tube, and supporting means extending from said vise and mounting said tube in captive relation to said vise and in operative attitude with respect to a nasal aperture.

2. An attachable inhaler device comprising a vise having a pair of nose-gripping jaws, a springy loop joining said jaws together at an end and urging said jaws toward an open attitude,.a screw fastened to one of said jaws at a jointremoved from said springy loop and projecting through an opening in the other jaw, and a nut on said screw for engaging said other jaw for urging said jaws toward a closed attitude, a pair of inhaler tubes, supporting means extending from said vise and mountingsaid tubes .in captive relation to said vise and in adjustably operative attitude with respect to a corresponding pair of nasal apertures.

. 3...An attachable inhaler device comprising a vise having a pair of nose-gripping jaws terminating a V-configuration having a first springy apex designed to urge the jaws apart, screw means connecting said jaws together remotely from said first springy apex and adjustably urging said jaws toward a closed attitude, a pair of corresponding arms forming a second V-configuration having a second springy apex captive to said first apex for urging said arms toward one another, and means on the arms for mounting an inhaler tube on the extremity of each said am.

4. A construction in accordance with claim 3 wherein the said first and second springy apices are comprised of a single springy member formed to hold the two V-configurations in a normally parallel but spaced attitude such that when the vise is clamped upon the barrier between the nasal apertures and when the 'arms of said second V-configuration' are fitted with inhaler tubes, the latter can be adjustably positioned to reside in operative relation each with a said nasal aperture.

5. A construction in accordance with claim 3 wherein the means for mounting said inhaler tube on an extremity of a said arm comprises a clip member rigidly afiixed to said arm so as to receive and detachably retain an inhaler tube in substantially parallel relation to said arm.

6. An attachable inhaler comprising a springy loop, a pair of vise jaws having a base integrated with said loop and divergently extending therefrom for movement to and away from each other, said jaws being insertible in the nostrils of the nose, a screw attached to one of said jaws and extending through an aperture provided in the other jaw, a nut on said screw for tightening against said other jaw to clamp the jaws on the central cartilage of the nose, inhaler holders having a base integrated with said loop and arranged at a side of said jaws to extend in the general direction of said jaws, clips on the distal ends of said holders, inhaler tubes detachably carried by said clips, a screw attached toone of said holders and extending through an aperture provided in the other holder, and a nut on said screw for tightening against said other holder for relatively adjusting the spacing of said inhaler tubes.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 598,467 Carence Feb. 1, 1898 657,402 Donovan Sept. 4, 1900 v FOREIGN PATENTS 533,956 France Dec. 23, 1921 

